Mayor Herbert M. Bautista, together with delegates from Quezon City, will attend two high-profile international conferences before the end of this month: one in Paris and another in New York. In Paris, the mayor will be addressing two issues, one on climate change as he, along with other mayors present, is expected to endorse the Fuel-free Streets Declaration, to promote cleaner air quality in more parts of the world, and to provide further teeth to the Paris Agreement on climate change. The mayor was invited by Bloomberg Philanthropies to the Together4Climate innovations initiative, for new joint climate change mitigation agreements, and the Partnership for Healthy Cities in Paris, to join 45 other cities across the world in the forum that aims to further strengthen policies or interventions to help reduce non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors in their localities.The invitation came from Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, World Health Organization (WHO) Global Ambassador for Non-communicable Diseases, and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. He was also three-term mayor of New York City.Bloomberg Philanthropies has pledged to provide support for each city to implement one of ten proven interventions to prevent NCDs and related injuries.

After the Paris forum, the mayor and the QC delegation will attend the 12th Global Forum on Human Settlements and Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards Ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on October 30 and 31.As the top executive of the country’s “most competitive” and multi-awarded city, Mayor Bautista has been acknowledged as one of the leading resource persons on local governance and sustainable development.